Quack-grass eradicator



, June 24,k 1930. K. RUE 1,767,619

QUACK GRASS ERADICMOR Filed sept. 29,1926

Patented June 24, 1930 KNVUTE RUE, or MArnnron, MINNESOTA v@mick-@Miss nnenrca'ron Application ledlseptember 9,.1-)2;6. Serial No. 138,421.

This invention relates to a machine designed to eliminate quack grass or similar obnoxious'grass'or weeds. Asis well known to many people, quacky grass spreads very rapidly `and grows qnitevigoronsly. This grass and'some otherfsimillar'grasses have under-V groundrunnersor rcotwhi'ch become very nuiynerous;v In order t'o effectively destroy the grass it is necessary thatthev root be largely torn apart and'dug up so that they may be withered and dried bythe sun. It is an'obje'ct of this invention, therefore, to :provide a machine of very simple construction which will effectively dig up the ground and -tearpout and destroy'thequack grass and the rootsthereof.,4

It is a further object of the 'invention to provide sufch a machine'having alfraine composed of spaced members fto which are adjustablysecured a 'plurality ofdepen ding blades or shovels spaced longitudinallyandtransversely vso vthat allof the ground within the range of said machine isfthoroughl y dug up' andthe o roots Vofgrasscut and't'orn thert-i'froin` Itis another object of k the'invention to providesuch a machine 'as lset forth 'in the'preceding paragraphA having ,a pair ofsupportf wheels at the rear Ithereof andone or more ,3b swinging ,caster wheels `at 'the front, saidma-- chine havingfmeans for raising and lowering ends'. p v

QI-t ismore specificallyyan object of the inthe frame thereefefbefh its ,trent @dreef vention to provide a quack grass destroying t machine 'comprising a frame formed of re'arwardly divergingO members 4tof which the depending blades or shovels aresecured, said blades'or vshovels being'rspacedlongitudinally of said membersfin Sdmaniier fthatfythe'y movein paths whi'ch'are spaced transversely of the machine whenzthema'chine is .drawn forward, said framehaving an aide at itsl rear endwithrsupporting'wlfeels at thefendsf there of and having a lwheel Vsupporting ystandard at its-frontend on .which th'eframeis swiveled on which said 'framefis also vertically infvfV able, together with means disposed in conven-v ient position .formanipulaticn by they opera# ter mais. .e 11d lowes. fte-ee et les front and rearends.

4 These and other objects and advantages of the inventionfwill be fully set forth intheffol` lowing description made in connectionwithl the accompanying drawings in which like ref-` erence characters #refer 'to the-'sameV parts throughout the differentv views, and in which, ig. a view .inside elevation of themachine; A :i 'f Fig; 2 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken onthe line 3-3 of Fig. l, asjindic'ated bythe arrowsvand: .v 5 ,f ig'. 4 is a verticalsection taken on the line 4-4`of Fig. 2, las indicated bythe arrows, Figs. Band e beingshown on an enlarged scale. Y "Referring to the drawings, a machine is shownhaving a frame designated generally as 5, which frame comprises a pairofcentral members 5a extending longitudinally of fthe frame in contact at their forward ends and diverging from eachother vatthe rear of the. frame, said members having rearwardly eX-v tending parallel rear endsv 5b., fOuter frame members :50' are securedto'the frame members lapat the forward portions thereofand di.-A verge t-oward the rear'of the' machine'making substantially equal Vangles with the frame rearwardly therefromV between the members yEa.L While the members, 5P and 5d may be Y made-ofvarious material, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated, they are shown as -made :from standard channel bars.v lThe members 5'h1 are ydisposed with theirwebstogethejrandwill be secured together either welding, as illustrated, 4or'by suitable bolts;

VThev vmembers 5c are Valso shown as having Vtheirweb'sattheir inner. sidesand are welded tothe members i522 The member 5d is shown asconnectedtoone of themembers afby' a headed and nuttedbolt's 6 passing through theweb's ,ofthel channel4members5a and 5d. The f'fra'me also comprises transversely -eX- ten din'gjbars' 7 an'dlS which' extendacross thetops'of members ctand'd'havingtheir Y Y outeffe'nds" projecting Slightly' .berend-siehe.

members alsi'egteirds beneath members Va and 5", which bar is of the same length as bar 7 and is connected thereto by the headed and nutted bolts 10 extending Y throughbars 7 and 9 and at each side of members'c and'at the outer sides of members 5a. Another bar 11 extends beneath members 5, 5c and r5d which is of the same length as bar 8 and is secured thereto by headed and.

nutted bolts 12 which extend at each side of the members 5a, 5c and 5d, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. rlhe members 5a, '5c and 5d have secured thereto by the threaded and nutted U-shaped clips 17 downwardly vextending blades or shovels 18, said blades having cylindrical shanks extending through vsaid clips, which blades or Ashovelsv are adapted to move through and dig up 'the ground as the machine isadvanced'. As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the flanges of the members 5a, 5c` and 5d have vertically extending semicylindrical Vgrooves formed therein in which the shanks of the members 18 areseated. It will be noted that the members 18 are spaced longitudinally of members 5a, 5c and 5dr in Vsuch a manner that, as the machine moves Y forwardly, said blades will move in paths Vwhich are laterally spaced across the entire jecting therefrom between the brackets 13 to which is pivoted a link 19 which is pivoted atits other end to an intermediate point of ahand lever 20 upstanding from and Vpivoted at'its lower end toa notched segment 21 bolted toa plate V22iextendingbetween and Vbolted tothe bars and 8. A' spring operated pawl crank. 23'is mounted on lever 2O and adaptedto'engagea'tits lower end with anyone ot the notches in thev segment 21.

The forward ends or" the members 5a are embraced at top and bottom by the Varms'24` of abracket24 having spaced alined hubs at its forward end which project beyond the 'vend ot members 5a and a standard, illustrated as cylindricalrod 25, 1s journaled in said hubs orbrackets 24,.V A standard 25 is' bent KVt'lextend forwardly at itslower end substantially at a right angle, and ,said end exi .tends through ahub 26a upstanding'y cent-rally froman axle member 26 extending at each sidethereot. lVheels 27 arev journaled at the end?y el axle 28 and .held thereon by any'suit-L able means',",s`uch" asthe Cotter 28extending' through the l'ends 'of 1 saidraxlel j For-V wardly of the hubl25L the`st`andard'25 is einv:braced'byjahub'29a from which extend up-Y --wardlyspaced b eurs`-2 9..y TheA bars 2 9 are or shovels The front end of .crank lever 38, which fn a clockwise direction. 'This, in'etlect, ro

Joined at their upper ends and bent to'extend horizontally and rearwardly and are pivoted f by a bolt 30 to one side of standard 25. A hitch member 31 is provided in the form of a flat bar which extends between ythe members 29 and has a hub or eyelet ormedat itsrear end embracing asleeve 32 which is loosely mounted onstandard `25between the hubs of brackets 24. lJlfhile the hub Vor eyelet on member 31 Vmay be variously formed, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated it is.

shown as termed by merely bending the end` of bar 31' into cylindrical form-and securing the end by the headed and'nutted bolt 33'.

bar 31 is twisted to lie in a horizontal plane and has bolted to the upper side thereof a bracket 34 having a portion otlsetand extending parallel to thebent end of bar 31 to form acle'vis and a headed and nutted bolt 35 extends between members 31 and 34 Jfor the tachmentv of some tractor means. 'The standard 25 has a vU-shaped clip 38 clamped to its 4upper end to the rear end of which is'fpivoted the upper end of il link 37, the l wer end of which is pivoted to the forwardly extending armf38ay ofi aV bell latter is pivoted at Vits vertex portion to any upstanding llug ony bracket 24. The other and upwardly extending arm of bell crank lever upper end tothe forward end ofa link V39 which extends rearwardly of the machine and is pivoted at its rear end to thelowerend of, a hand lever 40 whichis intermediatelypivoted to a notched segmentbracket 41bolt`f` 38 is pivoted at itsV led to a plate 42 secured at its ends and ex' tending between bars 7 and 8 of the frame. The lever 40 hasa pawl grip rod 43 pivoted thereto, the lower end of which ris adapted to Vengage in any one of the notchesy in the segment41. The machine has a seat-support-k ing bar 44 secured to the bar 8extendintq up` Vwar'dly and rearwardly'theretrom, fwhich' supports an operators seat 45. The bar 44, pret'erably,willbe made of Vslightly resilient material.'` Y f Y ln operation, the machine will be'V drawn Jforwardly by a suitable the blades "18.fwill be positioneddso that they will move through the'ground, land thesev Vblades will digk upv the ground in grooves or u'rrowsl which jarejquite close to eachother.

tractor means Vand Ains The quackgrass'will thus be ellectively torn out'and dug up andthe rootsthereof divided 5 and torn apart. Vi'e'ctively destroyed withered and. dried up bythe sun. ,lhre'blades 18`maybe individuah ly adjusted vertically andthefframe 5j may The Vgrass will thus be ef- Vbe raisedV and lowered independently a'tfits trent and rear endspllltfwill be'seenptha'tif the lever 20fis swung rearwardly or .pulled rearwardly by the i operator sittingV inthe vseat V45,.that link 14 will be rotatedin a rearward direction so thatjthe axle 14 is turned CII tates the ends 13a of the axle so that the downwardly extending portions of the axle swing toward a vertical position. Thisraises the rear end of the frame. If the operator swingsthe lever forwardly, the downwardly extending portions of the axle swing rearwardly from a vertical position and the frame is lowered. The frame can be held in the desired position by allowing the pawl 23 to engage in the segment 21. If the operator f pulls rearwardly on lever the link 39 is moved forwardly and bell crank lever 38 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction. lThe arm 38a then pulls down on the standard 25 which is rigidly supported by the wheels 27 so that the front` end of the frame is raised and moved upward on the standard 25. It will be seen that the hitch member 3l, with the member 29, can .be swung from side to side through substantially 180 degrees.v so that the machine may be moved sidewise when desired, the wheels 27 acting as caster wheels.

From the above description it is seen that applicant-has provided a very simple, strong and durable machine for digging out and destroying quack grass and similar obnoxious grasses and weeds. The ground is thoroughly dug up and the grass thoroughly torn apart, dug out and destroyed. The machine is very simple in construction and involves comparatively few parts which are easily made and assembled. The machine is easily operated and has a very large capacity. In practice, the distance between the outside rear shovels is substantially seven feet and the rear wheels are substantially twenty six inches in diameter, the blade member 18 being substantially twenty inches in length. Quite a few of the machines have been constructed in actual practice and have been found to be very successful andelicient for the purpose intended.

It will, of course, be understoodthat va-y rious changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions 'of the parts without departing from the scope of ap plicants invention which, generally stated, consists of the parts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined in the appended claim.'

What is claimed is:

A quack grass destroying machine having in combination, a frame comprising alongitudinally extending central beam, rearwardly diverging bars extending. from adjacent the front. endof said beam, a plurality of vertically and individually adjustable blades secured to said bars and spaced therealong, a pair of rearwardly. Vdiverging bars extending from adjacent the rear ofsaid beam,

a plurality of verticallyand individually ad-k justable blades secured to said last mentioned bars and spaced therealong, all of said blades being spaced substantially .equal distances l transversely of said frame, a crank axle journaled in the ends of said last mentioned bars, wheels carried at the ends of said axle within the rear ends of said irst mentioned bars and within the lines of the outermost teeth, a seat, a lever within reach of said seat, means connected to said lever for oscillating said axle and raising and lowering the rear end of said frame,a post journaled in' the front end of said central beam, castor wheels carried by the lower end of 'said post, a second lever within reach of said seat and means connected to vsaid secondlever for raising and lowering the front end of said beam on said post, said post and castor wheels being oscillatable about the axisof said post and said seat, second lever and last mentioned means being mounted on said central beam.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

KNUTE RUE.` 

